Student’s Death: Chrisland school denies alleged exhumation request, apologises

The management of Chrisland School, Ikeja, Lagos, has denied an alleged plan to seek the exhumation of the corpse of Whitney Adeniran, a 12-year-old pupil of the school who died on 9 February during an inter-house sports competition.

An autopsy conducted at the Lagos State University Hospital (LASUTH) has since confirmed that the deceased died from “asphyxia and electrocution”.

But the school, which had claimed that the student “slumped in public view and not under any hidden circumstances,” did not acknowledge the autopsy report.

Commenting on the alleged plans to exhume the student’s corpse, the school said: “We have no such plan and assure the public that we are also parents in mourning and will not do or subscribe to anything that paints such insensitive optics that prevents our dear daughter from resting.

“We assure you all that no such thing will happen. Rather than do this, plans are underway to immortalise Whitney’s name so she can remain indelible in our consciousness. This is without prejudice to the ongoing Corona inquest but it is an honour we owe her.

“While not pre-empting the investigation, the School wishes to state that the management understands and appreciates the outpouring of emotions from this unfortunate incident”.

However, the school said they have adopted the caution of quiet sobriety and have refrained from responding to every issue on social media but “unfortunately this quiet is coming with regrettable, misconstrued conclusions”.

“Nonetheless, Chrisland Schools will continue to cooperate with the authorities throughout the investigations, and also offer the parents every necessary support in this grieving period,” it noted.

School apologises

The school management said it is aware of the developments around the autopsy report, noting that it is “remorseful and sorry to Whitney’s parents”.

The statement further read: “We are sorry to our parents and the entire community that hosts our school. We are also very sorry to the nation at large. It was a huge loss to the School.

“We express equal measure of apology to the Nigeria Media, another critical stakeholder, in case we have sent unbearably quiet signals. We have been quiet because this was death so shocking, we opted more for introspection and moral rectitude rather than strutting around the Media space to seize narratives.

“Moreso, we considered it imperative to allow the parents and indeed the entire Adeniran family the honour of their privacy as we all mourn this unfortunate loss. Whitney Adeniran was a bright and lovely student. She was popular and friendly. Her memory lives with us.”

Background

Following the unfortunate death of the student, the deceased’s parents initially accused the school management of negligence.

They took to social media to seek public intervention to unravel the circumstances that may have led to their daughter’s sudden death while taking part in the sporting events.

The parents insisted that the lack of an ambulance or first aiders at the venue of the sporting events contributed to the student’s death.

In reaction, the Chairperson of the school’s Advisory Board, Ike Ofuokwu, noted in a statement that the 12-year-old deceased “slumped in public view and not under any hidden circumstances.”

“Our immediate response was to take advantage of proximity by identifying the nearest medical facility to take her to, where the doctor on duty administered oxygen and every aid possible on her,” said Mr Ofuokwu.

According to the statement, the student opted not to participate in the inter-house sports match past “for reasons we were not very sure about.”